


A Battle Won (and Lost)

by Small_Hobbit



Category: Macbeth - Shakespeare
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-30
Updated: 2017-09-30
Packaged: 2019-01-07 05:38:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,019
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12226848
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Small_Hobbit/pseuds/Small_Hobbit
Summary: The tragedy of Macbeth, as seen by the witches.





	A Battle Won (and Lost)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [mamculuna](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mamculuna/gifts).



The dark spirit looked at the three beings before her.  “You are ready to select your target?” she asked.

“Aye, my lady,” the first being answered.

“You understand the sort of man we seek?”

“Aye, my lady,” the second replied.

“And you appreciate the urgency of the task?”

“It’s not good for us if the land is at peace.  And with the outcome of the current battle clearly in Scotland’s favour we must act quickly,” the third said with confidence.

The dark spirit nodded.  “Go, and be back by sun up with your victim’s name.”

***

The beings returned as instructed.  They had assumed more corporeal forms, resembling old women, but still bore an air of something not human.  The dark spirit nodded approvingly.  These ‘witches’ would appear familiar enough to anyone who saw them, but would still strike a level of fear.

“Tell me who you have chosen,” the dark spirit instructed.

“Macbeth, Thane of Glamis,” the first witch said.  “A ruthless warrior, of good standing, and ambitious.”

“With a wife, whose ambition equals his,” the second witch added.  “And who would like to have a position above those who currently look down on her for being childless.”

“Macbeth will be open to suggestion if it falls into line with his own desires.  He will accept our words to mean what he wants to believe.  And he will be none too scrupulous in ensuring they come true,” the third witch said.

“Good,” the dark spirit said, “He sounds ideal.  Is there anything which will cause a problem?”

“He’s got a loyal companion, called Banquo, who will not be as convinced,” the first witch replied.

“But it shouldn’t be a problem to persuade Macbeth to rid himself of this man,” the second said.

“Little knowing that killing someone will not solve a problem, but only make it worse,” the third added, to general approval.

“Then go, you have work to do!” the dark spirit ordered.

***

The thunder crashed and lightning split the sky.  The three witches stepped through the gap from their world into the world of men which the lightning had briefly opened.  Encumbered by their human forms, they could make slower progress than as pure spirits, and they dare not risk any appearance as less than human at this stage.  They agreed where they would meet, and then separately made their way to the heath, each blending in with the shadows as they went.

The meeting with Macbeth was even more successful than they had planned.  Having delivered their message they did not disappear, as Banquo and Macbeth believed, but once more blended in with the darkness of the surrounding night.  They stayed to listen, aware they had only just begun their plans, but Macbeth’s words showed not only had they chosen the right man, but that he would be more willing to act than they had predicted.

And so, having built Macbeth up, it was time to start to prepare for his downfall.

***

“How did you fare with Macduff?” the first witch asked her two companions.

“Not as well as we would have liked,” the second replied with a snarl.  “And yet he has so much promise.”

“Did you make the insinuations we discussed?  And let the words trickle inside his head?” the first witch said.

“Of course we did,” the third snapped.  “He could not have known where they came from.  And he liked the thought of hiding his troops behind tree branches.  But when we suggested the defeat of Macbeth could lead to his own advancement he recoiled and shut us out completely.”

“Fools!  You should have taken more care,” the first said.  She swung round to confront the other two and a dark haze rose up around them.

“Keep your temper – you could have done no better,” the second said.  “Macduff will not act for personal gain.”

“Then we must find a way to make him act,” the first replied.  “Revenge will work.  Let us stir up Macbeth so he kills Macduff’s wife and children, and then see what Macduff does.”

The third witch laughed.  “Oh, then he will act.  He will throw himself at Macbeth, for he will have no reason to hold back.  And you, how did you fare with the Lady Macbeth?”

The first witch rubbed her hands together.  “As the potter moulds the clay, so I have moulded the Lady.  She, who until now has been the stronger, will begin to have dreams which will rob her of her sleep.  And soon, he, who until now relied on her, will find instead that all is shifting sand.”

***

The witches watched with a sense of satisfaction as Macbeth met his doom.  They practically cheered as Macduff held Macbeth’s severed head aloft.  They began to dance as they saw how their plans had worked out.  And then abruptly they stopped dancing.

“Malcolm is going to be crowned as king,” the first witch exclaimed.

“We have killed the father, just to bring the son to the throne,” the second wailed.

“This was not the plan,” the third cried.

The first witch turned on her two companions.  “This is your fault.  You should have corrupted Macduff, so he took the throne by force.”

The second snarled, “Macduff was your idea.  We did as you suggested.”

“How could you not see that all the lords would unite against Macbeth,” the third demanded.

“I could not tell the Scottish lords would be more loyal to their prince than English lords,” the first replied.  “English lords, at best, support their leader only until he has the throne, and then begin to plot against one another again.”

“So by your judgement we have brought about peace and not war,” the second screamed.

“We have achieved nothing,” the third bared her teeth and glared at the other two.

Slowly the dark haze was summoned by their anger.  As each one of the witches realised how badly they had failed in their task, their anger towards the others intensified, which fed into the haze.  The haze gradually turned into a pitch black fog, consuming the three witches as they raged.

 


End file.
